


The Tick Vs. The Moth Mistake

by Mellissalynn



Category: The Tick (1994), The Tick - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Moth Suit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-12-05 19:45:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellissalynn/pseuds/Mellissalynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmelita discovers a new feature of the moth suits.  Oops...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tick Vs. The Moth Mistake

The Tick Vs. The Moth Mistake

By Mellissalynn

"DAMN!" American Maid swore as she hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked from where he and Carmelita  
were sitting. The diner was fairly empty; only the three of  
them (well, the Tick was there, of course, but he had dozed  
off in the next booth).

"I just lost my catering team for the affair I'm doing next  
week," American Maid replied. "I promised that I'd do this,  
and the head of the NCCA won't be happy if I can't help.  
He's one of my best contacts!"

"The NCCA?" Arthur asked.

"The National Crime Council of America," American Maid  
answered. She put her head in her hands. "What am I gonna  
DO?"

Carmelita said, "I can help, if you need, American Maid"

"That's sweet, hun, but I need two waitresses who look  
alike. Where will I find that?"

Carmelita looked at Arthur and her eyes gleamed. "Arthur,  
sweetie...can you do something for me?"

Arthur looked at his beloved. "Of course!"

"Good. Can you do this?" She leaned over and whispered in  
his ear. He looked at her blankly for a minute, and she  
said, "Come on, sweetie. Just do this for me, OK?"

Arthur sighed. "OK..." He closed his eyes and concentrated.  
A shimmer appeared around him and American Maid gasped.

"So what did that pro-" Arthur stopped as he heard his  
voice. "Wh-what just happened?"

American Maid clapped her hands together. "This is  
perfect!" she gushed.

Carmelita held up a mirror for Arthur to see. In that  
mirror, he saw Carmelita. It took a second for the idea to  
register. "Wha- how- I'm YOU!"

Carmelita grinned. "It's another feature of the moth suit,"  
she said. "Daddy told me about it, but I've never tried it  
before. We can assume the look and sound of just about  
anyone!"

Arthur thought to himself, "Great, NOW she tells me!"

Jus then a groan came from the next booth. "My aching  
melon..." the Tick said as he rejoined the land of the  
living. "What the-ARTHUR!" The Tick cried out. "Good gravy,  
man, what's happened to you? " Being the Tick, his mind  
came up with the only possible solution. "There's evil  
afoot here, old chum. I'll save you!" The Tick grabbed a  
Carmelita and bounded off to find someone who could help  
Arthur.

"What is that muscle-bound goof going to do with Arthur?"  
American Maid wondered out loud.

"Nothing," Arthur replied. "He took Carmelita."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Tick was in such a rush that he didn't stop to open the  
door to the apartment. Thus, he ensured that yet another  
visit from the landlord was nigh. "Tick-" Carmelita started  
to say.

"Don't worry!" the Tick exclaimed. "I've seen shows on TV  
about things like this!" He turned on the television and an  
ad came on. "Is your friend, lover, or relative a victim of  
a cruel evil sorcerer or sorceress? Well, I'm Elk Whistler,  
and I can turn your loved one back to who he or she should  
BE! Just call me at 555-BACK!"

"Tick-" Carmelita tried again to say.

"No, Arthur! We have to do this!" the Tick cried. "How  
could you and Carmelita ever be happy if you were to look  
alike forever? We MUST do this!" He was already dialing the  
phone. He talked for a moment, ignoring utterly everything  
Carmelita said, then turned back to her. "They'll see us  
right now!" he said happily. "Come ON!"

As the Tick dashed to the roof, Arthur and American Maid  
came into view at the door of the apartment. "Great!"  
American Maid said. "We missed them!"

Arthur said, "Well, we know they've been here. It's all a  
matter of finding them now." He sighed as he looked at the  
door. "Great. Well, the security deposit is already LONG  
gone, so I guess there's no point in worrying about it." He  
tried to pick the door up, but it was fairly well embedded  
in the wall. American Maid reached over him and pried it  
loose, then stood it up over the hole.

"Now, where would they- oh no," Arthur gasped in horror.  
"He'll take her to that shyster on TV!"

"Who?"

"The guy that says he can restore victims of villains to  
their rightful bodies! Haven't you seen the commercials?"

"Sorry, I usually only watch the cooking and home  
decorating shows," American Maid said. Arthur rolled his  
eyes.

"Well, well, well!" they both heard from down the hall.  
"Lookee here, boys. American Maid and the girl moth!"

"Oh no," Arthur moaned. He closed his eyes and tried to  
picture himself. When he opened his eyes, he could see in  
American Maid s eyes that he still looked like Carmelita.  
He started to do the standard Arthur move, hiding behind  
her, but she hissed, "You can't BE that way today, Arthur!  
Carmelita would be flying and fighting. You HAVE to be her  
now!"

Arthur was almost shaking, but he understood what American  
Maid was saying. "I'll try," he whispered. He extended his  
wings and took off toward the men. One of them pulled out a  
weapon and fired it, shooting out some sort of net. Arthur  
instinctively dodged it, and hit the men dead on. One of  
them went down the stairs, shouting out words that made  
Arthur blush.

American Maid was on the other two men by then, making  
short work of them. "Good job, Ar-Carmelita!" she shouted.  
Come on, we have to catch the other one and find out who  
they are!"

As they reached the street, they found the man getting into  
a car and driving off. American Maid made a grab for the  
fender of the car, but wasn't able to catch it. She took  
off her shoe and tossed it at the car, where it lodged  
against the fender. "Come ON!" she shouted at Arthur as she  
pulled off her other shoe and revealed a small screen. "Get  
in the car, I'll drive!" Arthur came in for a landing and  
plunged into his car as American Maid started it and hit  
the gas. As American Maid watched her shoe, she said to  
Arthur, "It's a tracking device."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, the Tick, with Carmelita under one hand, was  
quickly heading for Elk Whistler's business. It turned out  
to be in one of the worst parts of the City, a place that  
Carmelita would never go on her own. She sighed as  
the Tick bounced along, creating several pieces of minor  
property damage in his wake. "Tick-" she tried again.

"Not now, chum, you'll get me lost!" the Tick replied. "Now,  
was that a LEFT on Siegal and a RIGHT on Shuster? Or a  
RIGHT on Kane and LEFT on Moulton?"

Carmelita sighed again. "I think it's here, Tick," she said  
as they neared a sign that said, "Elk Whistler, spell  
reversals and cantrips".

"Hm...I think you're right," the Tick said thoughtfully.  
"Yep! Right here at the corner of Kirby and Lee!" He opened  
the door and went inside, Carmelita still under his arm.

Inside the office, a man awaited them. He was rather older  
looking, with a bad toupee and an even worse mustache.  
Despite the disguise, Carmelita recognized him instantly.  
"Oh NO!" she though to herself. "It's Mr. Mental!" She  
looked up at the Tick, who obviously didn't recognize the  
super-villain.

"You must be the Tick," the disguised villain said. "We  
spoke on the phone."

The Tick said, "For the love of God, man, we don't have  
time for small talk! FIX MY SIDEKICK!" He thrust Carmelita  
at Mr. Mental.

Mr. Mental looked at Carmelita for a moment, then at the  
Tick. "Indeed," he said. "This looks to be a textbook  
case." Carmelita looked at him, then at the Tick  
incredulously. "Tick, don't you see who-mmph!" She was  
stopped by Mental's hand over her mouth.

"Look at her, Tick," Mr. Mental said as he started to work  
a trance on the Tick. The Tick swayed as he stood there.  
Carmelita racked her brains for a way to stop what was  
happening. She didn't want to be-

She stopped herself. Of course! Why not use the way this  
had started as a way to end it? She closed her eyes and  
concentrated...

The Tick was falling into Mental's trap when suddenly he  
heard Arthur's voice. "You did it!" Mr. Mental was badly  
startled by this, and the Tick snapped out of the trance.  
"ARTHUR! CHUM!" he cried as he lifted Carmelita  
into the air.

"OK, Tick," she said, trying to say it the way Arthur would.  
"We need to go now."

Just then, the door to the office banged open and a man  
staggered in. "Boss! We tried to catch them, but American  
Maid and that other flying moth person, the girl, was there!  
They got Rocko and Eel!"

The Tick looked at the man. "You look like an evil doer,  
mister!" he shouted. He quickly put Carmelita down and  
grabbed the man. 

Mental started to move toward the back, but Carmelita heard  
her own voice say, "Where do you think you're going?" She  
saw Arthur and American Maid standing there. Arthur was  
standing defiant and unafraid, looking exactly the way she  
would herself. She realizes that she has to act like he  
normally would. 

"T-Tick?" she says in Arthur's voice. "Shouldn't we be  
going now?"

The Tick said, "No, Arthur, we have to teach this man that  
the saltine of justice isn't his to crumble!" 

He looked at the poor thug, who was trembling in fear.

"You've got an appointment with that bowl of chili we call  
the legal system, mister!" 

He picked the man up by one ankle and turned to Mental.  
"Thank you, Elk Whistler! Thank you for giving me back my  
sidekick!" 

American Maid, Arthur, and Carmelita rolled their eyes as  
the super villain looked on in astonishment, not  
understanding how he'd been beaten again by the Tick.  
American Maid quietly grabbed him by the scruff of the neck  
when the Tick wasn't looking, and handed him over to the  
authorities as well.

'Arthur' went to 'Carmelita' and they embraced. Carmelita  
(the real one) said, "Well, we're going to be like this  
until tomorrow. The image changer's batteries will be  
recharged by then."

Arthur said, "That's OK. I've felt...different...while I've  
been this way. Less afraid of everything, as it were."

Carmelita replied, "Good. Then perhaps you'll stay that way  
when you're Arthur again." She kissed him on the cheek.

American Maid said, "Arthur, does that mean you'll help  
with my situation?"

Arthur smiled and said, "What are friends for, American  
Maid? I-awk!"

The "awk!' was caused by the Tick putting his rather large  
arms around everyone's shoulders in a group hug. 

"What are friends for, indeed, Carmelita?" he said.

"Friendship is the grout of the universe, keeping everyone  
from flowing out through the cracks..." As the Tick  
continued on in this vein awhile, Arthur looked at  
Carmelita and whispered, "Does your dad have one more of  
the image changers?" He cast his eyes at his big blue best  
friend and grinned what could only be called an evil grin.

The End...?


End file.
